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Monday, March 28, 2011

Buttery Flaky Croissants With Step by Step Pictures

I never imagined I would make my own croissants. Like all homemade cakes, breads and cookies, home croissants are also the best. The buttery smell when you bake these croissants and the flaky croissants straight from the oven to your plate is just amazing. Well this is not my first attempt in making croissants, I have tried a couple of times before and I wouldn't say my previous attempts were complete disaster, it was good, but this is the best of all croissants which I made. I know there is a hell lot of butter in this, but you have to forget about your diet and calories if you want to enjoy these. Don't worry, once in a while it won't hurt you much ;-)

The critical think in making this is, your butter has to be at the right temperature and rolling the dough carefully. Don't worry if your first attempt didn't give the results you expected, try it again and again , practise will make you perfect.
I followed the recipe from Annie's Eats, she has explained the recipe well with clear step by step pictures. You can check her recipe from here. It's like a dream come true for me, making my own croissants in home. Thank you Annie for this wonderful recipe. I'm sure you'll enjoy making this at home.

Method:Prepare the dough:
Add about 550 g of flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Slowly add the cold milk to the dry ingredients and start beating with your electric beater fitted with dough hook. When dough comes together add the butter and start beating again until the butter gets incorporated and dough forms together into a big ball. If the dough looks too sticky add the remaining 50 g of flour and beat with beater again. Wrap the dough tightly in a cling film and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Prepare the butter square:
Add the cold butter chopped into small squares and the flour to the work surface dusted with flour. Smear the butter back and forth with a spoon or bench scraper until it forms a homogenous mixture. Make the mixture into 7 inch, wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to use.

Start preparing the dough for croissant:

Take the dough out from the refriegerator and roll it into a 11 inch square.

Place the butter square diagonally in the middle. Seal the edges together.

Start rolling the dough gently starting from the middle, make sure you dust the work surface with plenty of flour. Roll the dough gently into 14 inch square.

Fold the dough into third to form a rectangle.

Again fold the dough into third to form a square. Wrap the dough tightly with a cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours.
Repeat the entire process again twice. Wrap the dough tightly with a cling film and refrigerate it over night.

To make the croissants:

Place the chilled dough in a floured work surface and start rolling gently from the middle to the outwards into a long rectangle. Roll it about 30 cm length and 20 cm wide rectangle, cut into half. Place the 1 half covered with a cling film separately. Then roll the other half until you get 60 cm length and 30 cm wide rectangle.

Cut it into triangles as shown in the picture.

Take a triangle, slightly make a slit at the wide end in the middle.

Start rolling from the wide end to the narrow end to form a croissant. Repeat the same process for the remaining. Place the croissants in a greased and lined baking tray. Space well between each croissants as they spread. Cover loosely with a cling film and let it rise at room temperature for 40 to 45 minutes or until it looks puffed up.
Preheat the oven to 190 degree celsius. Brush the croissants with egg wash and bake it in the preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes until it looks golden brown on top.
Serve the croissants warm with tea or coffee. You can also store the croissants in a airtight box for upto 1 week.

Awesome work dear:-) Thats wat i call perfect crossants..I had tried to make it once,,but didnt get the flaky texture.So i thought to get the flaky texture I shud use shortening..Now seeings ur clicks i am so temped to try making it once more:-)

Perfectly done croissants dear! I had made the dough in a similar process to get puff pastry. And then made chicken puffs out of it! And yes, the aroma that comes fills the house when these are baking in the oven is simply out of this world...

They look amazing! I tried to make some this weekend and naively followed a 'quick and easy' recipe (still took 7 hours inlcuding chilling time!) - but they were nowhere near as good as this. I am totally inspired to give them another go now though!

wowwwwww superb ya.....i love croissants but becos of the amount of butter in it makes me say sometimes no to it......as u said while having this forget abt the dietind and enjoy with a cup of coffeeee......hmmmmmm yummmyyyy....

Thank you everyone for visiting my blog and leaving your lovely comments.To Gaby, I guess the amount of milk should be fine, you have to add only 550 g of flour initially when kneading, incase if the dough is sticky you have to add the rest. If you think the dough doesn't come together, you can always add some more milk, since you are using only cold milk, it doesn't matter when you add it. Hope this helps for you dear :)

I need to brave myself doing this :-D My family loves croissants and the best we ate when we're back to EU even the factory made like Marc Payot is yummylicious! Now, my 5 yr old son is carving it for his morning breakfast... :-(

salam maimoonah.. i feel so very happpy to get to know you from germany. thanks a lot for your comment, appreciate if u be my ardent follower too LOL... please will you ever be so kind as to do guest post on the winter squash plus may be 3 photos / i promise you i will accept yours, because you are the first to respond. i cant do it, we dont have the squash here in malaysia.. i dont want other pumpkins.thanks..

Hi, I tried your recipe and this is my first time baking croissants. I would like to know what type or brand of butter you used in this recipe. Also, I had some trouble with the dough while rolling the butter in as it tore open when I rolled it. Do you have any solutions for my problem. Ps I followed yr recipe exactly...

Hi Cnwh, Just now happened to see your comment, not sure if you are already done with your croissants, any way here is my answer. The butter which I used is normal unsalted butter, which is used for baking. You have to handle the dough very carefully and gently or there is a possiblity for the dough to tear. Also your room temperature shouldn't be too warm, should be fairly cool. In case your room is too warm, I would recommend to freeze the tray which you use for rollinjg so that the butter doesn't melt and come out while you are rolling.

Stunning recipe! User friendly and easy to follow. I made my first croissants yesterday and baked them this morning. Absolutely delicious...had my second one just now...guilt free:) Thanx for uploading

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About Me

Salams(peace and blessings be upon you), I'm homemaker, happily married and mum of two little sweet girls. I just love to cook good home made food with fresh products. I welcome your suggestions whether it's good or bad. Your suggestions and comments will keep me improve everyday with my blogging. Any doubts regarding my recipes please contact me at ayeesha.riaz@googlemail.com